A Wish Kept Secret
by TobiasHawk1
Summary: Another Renora or Team Sloth fic. I hope you guys enjoy it and don't forget to R&R. Always remember, Zone-tan watches you fap.


**No, I don't own RWBY. Here's another Renora or Team Sloth fic I wrote. Hope you all enjoy it and don't forget to R&R!**

She has russet hair and turquoise eyes. But she was more than the sum of her parts. Sure, she was beautiful on the outside, but that was such an unequivocal understatement that those words were a disservice to her; her physical beauty merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  
It was the way she smiled and carried herself. As if she were a being eight times her size. The way she grinned as she fought. The way she rambled as she spoke, fancifully weaving webs of wonderment, leaving me in a daze each time her lips parted.  
"Sloth cries scare my heart,  
And suddenly it's pounding,  
Hard as Magnhild."  
I threw away the poorly written haiku, too stubborn to admit my skills weren't sharp enough to describe how she made me feel in seventeen short syllables.  
"Are you okay, Ren?"  
I nodded, snapped back into reality.  
"You've been awfully quiet today."  
I smiled, unsure of what to say.  
"Hey! Do you remember when…?"

The prance in her step,  
The spark ignites in her eyes…  
even as children:  
"Are you always this excited?"  
"Are you always so quiet?"  
"I just… I don't have much to say."  
"Then I'll just have to say it for you!"

It was after I'd realized her breath smelled of jasmine- a secret whispered breathily into a cupped hand- that I'd discovered my fondness for the tea. She laughed as the purple packets of teabags replaced the green of Earl Grey.  
"I thought that was your favorite!"  
I didn't trust myself to respond. "_You're my favorite_" was just too simple of a confession.

I watched her pour her soul out for weeks on end as she designed her weapon.  
"Everyone from Signal's had a bow this year and I don't think I could make it work anyway and how can I make a big boom and still do my cartwheels, Ren this is so impossible, let me see yours!"  
I smiled sheepishly. She knew I couldn't show her what I'd designed as much as she could hers. It was an unspoken rule that no one would know until the weapons were crafted and bestowed onto each student during the ceremony.

I watched as she was pushed to her wit's end learning to use Magnhild, wrapping my arms around her narrow shoulders and comforting her sobbing form as she deduced her weapon was upset with her over some kind of mistreatment on her part.

"Dance with me!"  
"I-I don't- Nora, wait!"  
Her feet traveled effortlessly over the earthy ground, my own, untrained feet stiff with inexperience.  
"Relax, Ren. It's just me." She giggled and- was that cinnamon? In her hair! How ironic. _Just say it! Nora I love-  
_She spun on her heels, smiling as she landed into my arms and rational thought became an impossibility. Her head rested against my shoulder as she looked up into my eyes smiling. She was so close, I could count each tooth- one chipped from her fall out of a tree a couple of years prior.  
"That was nice…"  
And then she was gone, walking towards the kitchen most likely in search of sweets. Our dance over… but not forgotten.

"I wish for a pony and a backyard covered in honeysuckle!"  
"I wish for…"  
Minutes passed by as the shooting stars painted bright trails on their way through our atmosphere.  
"Come on, Ren, you've gotta wish for something!"  
Her smile, the feel of her head against mine as we lay together, the feel of the wet grass under my palms. The night was surreal.  
"I wish we would never end."  
I'd said it. There it was. A couple more seconds ticked by before I looked into her eyes- afraid I'd misspoken- to find them lidded. Her face peaceful, her breath slow and rhythmic.  
I smiled and wrapped her tighter in her blanket.  
"A wish kept secret is a wish come true…"

"It huuuuuurts!"  
"Nora, stop moving!"  
"Ren please stop- owowowow!"  
"Nora please calm down-"  
"OW! REN!"  
"Nora, please just bite down, this is difficult enough-"  
"REN YOU'RE KILLING ME!"  
I stopped and sighed, releasing my pressure on her broken arm. She whimpered as I did, the bones sliding out of place.  
"Nora. Please trust me."  
"It hurts…"  
"It's going to hurt worse getting to a hospital without this splint. I don't want to see you in pain…"  
She whimpered, eyes lost in thought, trying to decide whether to trust my hands. I sighed, Nora was stubborn. She'd walk all the way to Mistral on a broken leg. I gently grabbed her arm, looking deep into the small turquoise puddles. She bit her lip and whimpered. It was almost too hard to-  
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"  
She left the hospital in a thick cast, something she'd always wanted.  
"Now you have to sign it and I can keep it forever!"  
"You're lucky your friend was there to help you Miss Valkyrie. This could've been a lot worse had he not set the bone when he did."  
"Yeah… I guess I _am_ lucky…"  
I looked away from her gaze, trying to get some strength back in my knees.

"Come on, Renny!"  
I tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes, the hallway flying past me. The only indication we were outside was the cold air against my bare shoulders and-  
"It's snowing!"  
I hopped, entirely taken by surprise as the cold snow sapped the warmth from the soles of my bare feet.  
She giggled, catching a snowflake on the tip of her tongue. She was glowing; her personality shining through brighter than the midday sun. It hurt to tear my gaze away.  
"I love winter!"  
If it made her happy, it made me happy. She fell back, falling into a shelf of snow, teddy bear pajamas hugging her legs tightly as she made snow angels. I sat and watched, slowly nodding off.  
"Ren!" She called my name but the snowball had hit me before I even heard it. I grinned and tackled her, burying her in snow.  
We ran back into the house, shivering, hands near paralyzed as we tried to warm ourselves with fireside hot chocolate.  
"That was so much fun…"  
She smiled happily, leaning against me. She was so warm… I didn't realize we'd fallen asleep embracing.

"Yeah, Nora. I remember."  
"Wow! We haven't done that in forever! I wonder if we'll still be friends in 10 years."  
She looked off into the distance. I held her slender hand in mine.  
"I'll **always** be your friend."  
I gazed into those puddles of turquoise for most likely the millionth time and found the same spark there I'd seen when we'd first met.  
"Boop."

"NO! Get away from me! I hate you!"  
Those words stung more than my experience with a rapier wasp.  
"Nora-"  
"GET AWAY!"  
She shoved me, nearly stealing my balance and I watched her run off, tears threatening to wash my own face.  
We were twelve and she wanted to take me to her favorite spot in the river to swim.  
"The willow trees hang over into the river and it's like swimming out of a forest and they have a tire swing that you can jump off and scream as you hit the water! One time I almost didn't let go in time and I got soooo close to the other edge of the river I went woooossh but plop, back in the river and I was okay."  
As we walked, she'd mentioned her stomach starting to ache but she marched on, undeterred.  
"Ren, can we _please_ go back?"  
"What's the matter, Nora are you okay?"  
"I'm fine, we just _have_ to go back."  
"But we walked all the way-"  
"REN! PLEASE!"  
"Okay, let me just-"  
"No we have to go NOW!"  
"Nora, what's wrong?"  
"I HATE YOU!"  
I relived the conversation countless times as I made my way back home.  
I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep until I heard my window opening. My eyes snapped open and I reached for the nearest thing to me.  
"Ren…?"  
I sighed and sat up.  
"Nora?"  
She tip-toed to my bed, awkwardly rocking on the balls of her feet.  
"Ren, I'm sorry…"  
"What's wrong?"  
"I… I don't want to talk about it."  
I patted the empty space on the bed, already unnerved by her not sliding in the sheets with me the second she'd walked in.  
"N-no… it's okay."  
"Nora… please talk to me."  
She chewed her lip, looking deep into my eyes, and I refused to look away.  
"I… I was bleeding…"  
"Did I hurt you?"  
"Ren no! Not you…"  
I took her hand and she gingerly took her place on my bed.  
"I'm not scared of a little blood."  
She smiled and buried herself in my sheets.  
"I'm sorry," she whispered sleepily.  
I placed my hand on her shoulder, her skin hot and slightly clammy.  
"Go to sleep, Nora."  
"Okay Renny."

"Ren?"  
"Hmm?"  
"I… can you stand up?"  
I stood, looking at her curiously.  
"Ren… I've known you for so long… you're the bestest friend I've ever had."  
I nodded, unsure of what to say.  
"I…"  
She looked to her shoes for guidance."  
"Nora… it's just me," I echoed those words I'd heard so long ago.  
"… it's never **just** you, Ren. It's **you**. The way you look at me when you think I'm not looking or the way you try and hide your haikus from me even though you've kept them in the top right drawer under your book on snakes that you **know** I like reading, or the way you always make me feel like I'm special… I'm **not** special Ren!"  
I listened to her ramble, hearing things I'd never thought she'd say.  
"Say something Ren! You can't stay quiet all the time and make me talk for you, I know I said I'd do it when we were kids but I can't, because every time I imagine what you'd say I keep hoping it's you saying you love me but the words never come and I just can't take it anymore!"  
I smiled. How couldn't I?  
"Nora…"  
"Ren?"  
"I've **always** loved you."  
"I love you, too."  
Her reply didn't come from her. I looked around and the room was floating. My eyes snapped open and I was holding onto Nora's sleeping form, my old shirt enveloping her entirely.  
"I love you too, Ren," she whispered in her dreams. I smiled.  
"A wish kept secret…"


End file.
